New theory about autism--opinions?

[Bilberry]

It is interesting to theorize about the cause(s) of autism. For me I've often wondered not only about the sex differences for the disease, most autistics being male as the article mentions, but also the large number of autistics reporting severe stomach problems. There is also some believing autism could be connected with chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia.

I have an IBD stomach condition. That is my interest with autism and stomach disorders. IBD conditions are mostly a female problem. Some males develop IBD conditions but it is a rarer diagnosis. With IBD diseases not only can the stomach be upset, but a large number with IBD conditions experience chronic fatigue and mental fatigue. Some say chronic fatigue is the top complaint for IBD conditions, but opinions vary on that.

So I've often wondered if autism, IBD conditions, chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, could be developing from the same source, possibly in the intestinal digestive system, but preventing differently in the sexes, and differently per individual. Just a guess.

 

[Turn the Page]

I don't have a link at the moment, I will search for one in a bit, but wasn't there discussion on this board a while ago that a study was done looking at home videos of children later diagnosed with an ASD when they were infants and it was determined that the signs were there in children as young as 3 months old or something like that?

Is this new theory that exposure to plastics causes autism claiming that the exposure in the first few months of life is enough to cause an ASD?

 

[Hrhpd]

Saw this on Yahoo, it's an article that explains a theory that plastics are behind the increase in autism. It basically states that plastics contain chemicals that disrupt hormones, and these may in turn cause changes in developing brains. This theory is shared by the doctor from The Happiest Baby books.

I found it interesting because I've long thought that plastics were evil and to be avoided at all costs. I also have a son on the spectrum.

So anyway, if you want to check it out:

http://www.popsugar.com/moms/What-Causes-Autism-38215233

I'd love to hear people's thoughts on this, and also if there are any other crazy people out there who hate plastic as much as me and you'd care to share tips on things you do to avoid it.

My thoughts? Since there was not a single scientific study cited and it was published in that unimpeachable scientific journal Pop Sugar, it is just one person's opinion and has absolutely no merit at all, about as credible as the vaccination theory. Actually less credible because studies have been done on the vaccine theory and have disproven it. More significantly though, at the end of his statement, he says "I don't know the answer, but I do know that we have to find the answer." So even he admits he was just throwing something out there that he thinks needs to be studied.

The cause of Autism is a still long way off of being understood.

One of the main reason rates of Autism are rising is because the definition of Autism has grown to encompass more people.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

I don't have a link at the moment, I will search for one in a bit, but wasn't there discussion on this board a while ago that a study was done looking at home videos of children later diagnosed with an ASD when they were infants and it was determined that the signs were there in children as young as 3 months old or something like that?

A childhood friend of mine has a child with autism. She swears it was vaccine induced (MMR) and now her other 2 kids are unvaccinated. Her mother is a special ed teacher and saw the signs that the grandson was autistic at 4 months old, well before he got the MMR. The mother herself is quirky and is probably on the spectrum, but refuses to believe that it could possibly be genetic.

 

[AutismMom2006]

I have two sons on the spectrum and it is such a big part of my life I chose my DIS name because of it. I am in the camp that thinks it is genetic. DS #1 was diagnosed while I was pregnant with DS #2. Medical staff at Easter Seals told me there was 20% baby would also have autism, and he does. After living with this for a while I see pieces of autism in different branches of the family tree, I can see those genetic tendencies and with my kids it lined up just right to be full-blown autism. Of course maybe something in the environment "triggered" those genes, I don't know how that stuff all works. I would like to see more research on helping adults with autism live happy and independent lives. According Autism Speaks facebook post about 90% of adults with autism are unemployed.

 

[DLgal]

I have two sons on the spectrum and it is such a big part of my life I chose my DIS name because of it. I am in the camp that thinks it is genetic. DS #1 was diagnosed while I was pregnant with DS #2. Medical staff at Easter Seals told me there was 20% baby would also have autism, and he does. After living with this for a while I see pieces of autism in different branches of the family tree, I can see those genetic tendencies and with my kids it lined up just right to be full-blown autism. Of course maybe something in the environment "triggered" those genes, I don't know how that stuff all works. I would like to see more research on helping adults with autism live happy and independent lives. According Autism Speaks facebook post about 90% of adults with autism are unemployed.

Exactly. We like to say our kids hit the genetic lottery. All those little traits trickled down and became concentrated enough. Both my husband and I have autistic tendencies and my dad is most definitely autistic (which he agreed with when I mentioned it to him).

My older son was clearly autistic from the day he was born. He never acted like the typical baby. My younger son seemed more typical in the beginning (first year or so), but as he got older and started wanting to communicate, he went downhill fast.

I have two sisters with kids younger than mine. So far, none are diagnosed and all seem typical, but interestingly, their husbands are both super social, outgoing types with no family members that could be considered on the spectrum. Genetics is definitely at play here.

 

[Hrhpd]

According Autism Speaks facebook post about 90% of adults with autism are unemployed.

With the exception of engineers. Before the Aspergers classification was eliminated, I would have told you that the majority of the engineers in my dept had Aspergers. Especially the brilliant programmer that had to sit under his desk to work, made no eye contact ever and had limited social skills. Back in my day, it was just the stereotype of the nerd. Now many nerds are considered on the spectrum.

I fully believe in the genetic component. I see the tendencies in my own family.

Good news is that I know several young adults with Autism, on many different parts of the spectrum, and they are all gainfully employed, either with a job coach or independently.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I tend to think that the biggest reason for the explosion in cases (other than the obvious increase in actually diagnosing what was already there) is that around the same time that we started to see so many more cases, the world got MUCH more complicated and less predictable, which in turn made it harder for those with autistic personality traits to cope--meaning we see the results of that.

I absolutely agree! There used to be time to process everything. People could breathe, and think, and figure things out. Now it can so easily be overwhelming.

I was a smart kid, but what was then called "slow to warm up". (I needed to watch for a bit before jumping in.) I ended up doing fine, but I'm sure if I was in school today, I'd have been tested.

Maybe we need to stop pathologizing everything...

Yes! I think a lot of differences used to just be seen as differences. Now we look for a "solution" to everything.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

That is called comorbidity. Autism exists often alongside epilepsy, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ADHD, and more. THOSE are treatable medical conditions. Autism, alone, does not equate to "neurologically unhealthy"

I must tell my friends. What would their inability to speak and toilet themselves be called?

Is it just your child who determines that all those with automatically neurologically healthy?

 

[Turn the Page]

Personally, I wish autism wasn't such a magic word. My stepdaughter6 has autistic tendencies and definitely has sensory processing problems but she doesn't qualify for the autism diagnosis which unfortunately is a bit of a bummer because if she did have that magic word in her file she would then qualify for therapies she would benefit from that she can't currently get which is super frustrating.

Another thing that bites is that she does not present classically so it can be hard to get the professionals to listen to us. She has sensory issues but she is not the stereotypical kids with sensory problems that screams in pain when you touch them. She is the kid who can't tell the difference between wet and dry clothes or the one who rams her head against the door jam so hard she ricoches off it and lands flat on her back but can't figure out what just happened or the one who stands in a scalding hot shower screaming but can't make the connection that if the water is burning her she needs to get out of it. She has many other signs but because she doesn't have the stereotypical autistic social traits she doesn't qualify for that diagnosis and therefore does not get help that she needs.

The neuromuscular specialist we took her to said the diagnosis that her symptoms fit best was autism but the ADOS test results say she doesn't have autism.

ASD is a frustratingly broad diagnosis while autism is a frustratingly narrow diagnosis. You can be on the spectrum but not autistic and therefore don't get the help you need.

We are on the waiting list for an evaluation by a neuropsychologist at a children's hospital downstate which will hopefully be able to give some more insight.

 

[Rhie]

*rolls eyes* No. BPA doesn't work that way. And, autism isn't hormonal, its neurological, and its genetic. This fits with absolutely nothing that we know about autism, or really basic science knowledge.

 

[DLgal]

I must tell my friends. What would their inability to speak and toilet themselves be called?

Um, that would be called autism. The inability to toilet oneself is usually due to a combination of sensory and executive function deficits. The inability to speak is usually due to motor planning problems as well as typical communicative deficits/anxiety associated with autism.

And, no, I don't assume everyone with autism is like my kids. I'm not stupid.

But saying that everyone with autism is "neurologically unhealthy" is totally inaccurate. The neural connections in autistic brains are simply different in type, concentration, and location than the "typical" brain. There is no way to change them, though. You can create NEW neural connections, which is what the goal of therapy is. It is not a matter of brain "health", but rather a physical difference.

If you think of it like a computer, it is all about the programming. We like to say autism is a Linux system in a world dominated by Windows and iOS.

If you open the computer and cut wires, or throw acid in some places, you have damaged the computer. Brain damage caused by injury, a disease process, a stroke, a chemical imbalance, etc....THAT is an "unhealthy" brain.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I really think the biggest part of the rise is the increase in diagnosis. Every person on this thread has described autism which I would consider very mild. I don't mean to downplay any struggle these kids/young adults have in life, but it's an entirely different experience than the autistic young man I know well. He requires a caregiver 24/7, throws out a random word or two once every few months but does not communicate in any way verbal or otherwise. He is very violent at times. He requires a male caregiver because he has grown to large for women to handle when he is angered. He is mostly toilet trained. He does love cartoons and plays the piano by ear, but wouldn't be able to obsess or study a subject because he can't use a computer or read.

I know there are similar traits to those discussed in this thread, but this was the face of autism 20 some years ago. People "back then" didn't worry about diagnosing kids who were capable of learning and who were just slower or quirky. (And don't get me wrong, these kids need the services they are getting. Especially with the state of education today, It's become too large of a beast for any child to navigate with developmental delays.) But, now that we have expanded the spectrum to include people with similar characteristics who require assistance to learn is what I think that has made the number of diagnosed cases explode. I don't think there are more diagnosis like the young man I know... but there are a lot more diagnosis of the more "mild" types of cases. (Again, I mean no disrespect to any family or child struggling with autism, I just couldn't think of any other language to use to describe the difference from one end to the other of the broad spectrum that is autism.)

Back to the OP's original thread (sorry for going off-thread for a moment), I never really worried about plastics. My husband does. He especially doesn't like plastics used for re-warming in the microwave, etc. My kids are pretty typical kids (whatever that means ) and they've eaten plenty of foods stored, prepared, re-warmed in plastics. Maybe they just didn't have a predisposition? Or maybe it's not plastic? I would say that plastic (at a glance) makes more sense to me than vaccines and some other theories, just because the "timing" of increased diagnosis combined with increased use of plastics for food storage and cooking, etc, fits a bit better. But, I would have to see some serious science to convince me plastics caused autism.

I think it will take time, but I do think there will be breakthroughs in autism and the reasons behind it. It just will take time because the brain and hormones and genes are endlessly complex.

When I was young the only people diagnosed as being autistic were what they called "plate spinners." They were non-verbal. They weren't bathroom trained. Autistic kids were never seen at Disney. Or the mall. Or the grocery store. They simply couldn't function enough to go out, even with caregivers. They were like the young man you know.

Everyone else, that might now be considered on the spectrum, were either "just different" or "retarded." There wasn't a spectrum. They either were or they weren't. And those that were couldn't read, write, use a computer or most anything else.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Um, that would be called autism. The inability to toilet oneself is usually due to a combination of sensory and executive function deficits. The inability to speak is usually due to motor planning problems as well as typical communicative deficits/anxiety associated with autism.

And, no, I don't assume everyone with autism is like my kids. I'm not stupid.

This were but 2 examples. While I didn't call you stupid, I question why you implied it was normal.

Being trapped inside one's body doesn't fit any of your comorbidity diagnoses.

Dyspraxia, motor planning are neurological in origin. I did not claim they were neurological disorders. As my son had Apraxia of speech, I am familiar with the issue. He isn't autistic though.

But saying that everyone with autism is "neurologically unhealthy" is totally inaccurate.

Correct. Which is not what I said.

But I also am not claiming the everyone is fine and people just need to not make it something it isn't.

That's silly.

The neural connections in autistic brains are simply different in type, concentration, and location than the "typical" brain. There is no way to change them, though. You can create NEW neural connections, which is what the goal of therapy is. It is not a matter of brain "health", but rather a physical difference.B

But to get therapy one needs a diagnosis and not be treated as though they are normal. If their brain has issues with connections, they are not neurologically healthy, right?

It's more than someone just being quirky. But no diagnosis, no therapy.

you think of it like a computer, it is all about the programming. We like to say autism is a Linux system in a world dominated by Windows and iOS.

I don't know that I agree with this since Linux is fine and has no issues. That's more like language barriers. A deaf person in a hearing world. We bridge the gap. They have an impairment. And we address that impairment. We bridge between their non-hearing world and the hearing world. They learn to communicate within deaf culture.

This is their normal, but we do acknowledge the their hearing does not function normal. We don't say people
Need to accept this as normal--no.

We need to accept the person as normal. We don't accept that the impairment is something normal. (Other than the cochlear implant debate.)

If you open the computer and cut wires, or throw acid in some places, you have damaged the computer. Brain damage caused by injury, a disease process, a stroke, a chemical imbalance, etc....THAT is an "unhealthy" brain.

Autism is a neuro-developmental disorder. I am not sure I agree with a large spectrum. But labels some time
Help to explain. There is no shame in calling something what it is.

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-10/documents/ace3_neurodevelopmental.pdf


Unfortunately, you took my claim and misstated that I said ALL were neurologically unhealthy. I said some were. And they are. I don't know why this offends you.



While I agree it may not be something we don't need to "cure"---and it isn't a "disease" someone catches--but it isn't "normal" as far as the brain it is supposed to function for most patients with autism. And if we don't study it, then we have no means to optomize the prognosis for a child when they grow up.

What my friend's daughter is suffering with is very much not normal. By any stretch of the inamagination.

For you to disagree that anyone acknowledge autism for what it is is rather bold of you.

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm

 

[barkley]

I don't have a link at the moment, I will search for one in a bit, but wasn't there discussion on this board a while ago that a study was done looking at home videos of children later diagnosed with an ASD when they were infants and it was determined that the signs were there in children as young as 3 months old or something like that?

based on the parents in the support group I attend (while our kids do autism teen group therapy)-by and large almost everyone will report that THEY recognized something 'different' about their autistic child from VERY early infancy. it wasn't something necessarily worrisome at the time-just something different. most will also report that they mentioned it to pediatricians and other doctors as they brought their children in for normal check ups and such-and more often than not were 'pooh-poohed' as being overly worrisome parents, told 'every child is different', 'you just aren't used to having a boy'. 'you're just being too permissive/spoiling/not establishing rules and sticking to them'......and as those differences became more apparent, became worrisome....they (myself included) continued to tell our doctors to little response. often our kids were initially misdiagnosed with adhd (a percentage of kids with autism have it-but not all) and given inappropriate medications or therapies.

it's a hard road to travel-in large part (imho) because there's no blood, mri or other black and white test that can diagnose autism, let alone any one treatment plan because as my favorite saying goes (which is exemplified by the opinions, experiences and perceptions people have posted on this thread):

"If you've met/know one person with autism, you've met /know one person with autism".



it's my belief that there's a genetic component to autism, but I also find the theory of intellectual evolution interesting. interesting to me b/c I look at the traits and habits that are so highly valued in many fields and professions-propensity for obsessive research, highly original problem solving, highly creative ideas, recollection of fine details, being detail oriented, hyper focus on a subject or task, ability to work singularly without being distracted by the social drive to waste work time interacting (visiting, chatting) with others.......traits/habits that high schools, colleges and professional trainings strive to develop in the general population, yet here we have some individuals who seem to have a natural, innate propensity for it. it makes me question why it's so popular to treat these kids with the goal of enabling them to 'blend in/integrate' with the general population-maybe it's the general population that needs to look to the extensive accomplishments and achievements that have occurred and continue by this population so that we can integrate.

 

[DLgal]

based on the parents in the support group I attend (while our kids do autism teen group therapy)-by and large almost everyone will report that THEY recognized something 'different' about their autistic child from VERY early infancy. it wasn't something necessarily worrisome at the time-just something different. most will also report that they mentioned it to pediatricians and other doctors as they brought their children in for normal check ups and such-and more often than not were 'pooh-poohed' as being overly worrisome parents, told 'every child is different', 'you just aren't used to having a boy'. 'you're just being too permissive/spoiling/not establishing rules and sticking to them'......and as those differences became more apparent, became worrisome....they (myself included) continued to tell our doctors to little response. often our kids were initially misdiagnosed with adhd (a percentage of kids with autism have it-but not all) and given inappropriate medications or therapies.

it's a hard road to travel-in large part (imho) because there's no blood, mri or other black and white test that can diagnose autism, let alone any one treatment plan because as my favorite saying goes (which is exemplified by the opinions, experiences and perceptions people have posted on this thread):

"If you've met/know one person with autism, you've met /know one person with autism".



it's my belief that there's a genetic component to autism, but I also find the theory of intellectual evolution interesting. interesting to me b/c I look at the traits and habits that are so highly valued in many fields and professions-propensity for obsessive research, highly original problem solving, highly creative ideas, recollection of fine details, being detail oriented, hyper focus on a subject or task, ability to work singularly without being distracted by the social drive to waste work time interacting (visiting, chatting) with others.......traits/habits that high schools, colleges and professional trainings strive to develop in the general population, yet here we have some individuals who seem to have a natural, innate propensity for it. it makes me question why it's so popular to treat these kids with the goal of enabling them to 'blend in/integrate' with the general population-maybe it's the general population that needs to look to the extensive accomplishments and achievements that have occurred and continue by this population so that we can integrate.

Yes...100 times YES!

Social interactions are a waste of time, IMO. It's why I've become so much more introverted with age.

You know what autistic people never bring to the table? Drama, lies, manipulation, hate, ill will, bullying, hypocrisy...it is very refreshing to deal with people who are honest. Maybe we all need to take a page out of their books.

 

[Allons-y!]

Yes...100 times YES!

Social interactions are a waste of time, IMO. It's why I've become so much more introverted with age.

You know what autistic people never bring to the table? Drama, lies, manipulation, hate, ill will, bullying, hypocrisy...it is very refreshing to deal with people who are honest. Maybe we all need to take a page out of their books.

That is not accurate. I work with students on the spectrum, and believe me, they are capable of lies, manipulation, ill will, etc. As was quoted above, "If you've met one person with Autism, you've met one person with Autism."

 

[jevs]

When I read or hear about a new autism theory, the question I always ask is but how/why did it only affect one of my twins?

 

[jiminyC_fan]

We have 3 sets of twins (1 set ours, then each twin had twins). Only one twin in one set has autism. Same as with Epilepsy only 2 sets of twins has it with only one in each of those sets. The one with autism was a normal 2 year old until he started having seizures. The autism struck a few years after that. Now 9 years later he is struggling with both, Autism and Epilepsy.

 

[DLgal]

When I read or hear about a new autism theory, the question I always ask is but how/why did it only affect one of my twins?

Are your twins biologically identical?